The US Economy Just Passed A Major Test

Analysts had expected that the industry would sell cars at a 16.4 million annualized rate in the month. That would have been a slight dip from the month before. Part of the reason a dip was expected was that May sales saw a huge uptick, and part of that was attributed to pent-up demand from the bad weather in the first few months of the year.

But instead, sales came in at 16.9 million according to Wards Auto, which takes the car-maker sales and then estimates a total industry run rate.

This means the U.S. economy just cleared a huge test. It was very plausible that things would slow down significantly in June, as the post-winter May spurt wore off. That didn't happen. Instead the strength is actually accelerating.